Brock Lesnar is working live events now? I must be going nuts. Anyways, WWE has decided to give another free PPV in between two of the mainly scheduled PPV’s, Payback and Money In The Bank. I see this show as more of an impromptu show as opposed to an actual, independent PPV on its own. This isn’t to say of course there won’t be any crazy swerves, but I think most of the matches already have a predestined outcome. So with that said, let us go through the rather impressive card I’m looking at right now.
The New Day (C) vs. Los Matadores vs. The Ascension vs. The Lucha Dragons vs. Team Kiddaro vs. The Prime Time Players – WWE Tag Team Championship (Elimination Chamber Match)
Since when did the tag team division get this big? This is a rather interesting concept to say the least. I should mention that the absence of Erick Rowan and Luke Harper in this match is a travesty so my hope is that either Los Matadores or The Ascension gets taken out before the match begins. Apparently, this will be a tornado style matchup. There will be six chambers housing both members of the tag team, at which point when the rotation lands on their pod, they will be released at the same time. Should one of the members get pinned or tap out, both members of the team will be eliminated. Now of all these competitors, Cesaro and Kofi Kingston are the only participants in the match with any prior Elimination Chamber experience. Regardless, I think this will be a high paced, entertaining match. Just the clash in styles alone will suffice for a potential show stealing spectacle. You have the high-flying capabilities of Los Matadores and the Lucha Dragons, the physicality of Prime Time and The Ascension, the technical prowess of Kidd and Cesaro, and you of course have the underhanded capabilities of The New Day. All of these teams will find a way to integrate their styles inside a dangerous structure. For me, it honestly doesn’t make much sense to take the titles off A New Day right now. They have caught fire and WWE must strike while the iron is hot. I say The New Day retains with a screwy finish, because they are the only team with 3 members. One will find a way to interfere. I think.
Winners: The New Day
Intercontinental Championship: Sheamus vs. Ryback vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. R-Truth vs. Bad News Barrett vs. Rusev/Bray Wyatt
Can someone tell me why the guy in the far left is in this match? Can someone explain to me what purpose R-Truth serves? What is WWE’s infatuation with the 43 year old? Oh, and did you know that this will be R-Truth’s fourth, count them, FOURTH, elimination chamber match. Neville should be in his spot if you ask me. Whatever. Anyways, all of these names were likely chosen out of a hat because who cares about fighting for your spot? All you have to do is either interrupt a segment or hope that your name gets chosen. As for the competitors in this match, I can’t see anyone but Sheamus walking out the victor. If Rusev’s health holds up and he is able to compete, I don’t think he walks out the champion because he just lost his feud with John Cena and broke up with Lana. Putting the IC strap back on him would be too sudden and the feud potential for anyone isn’t there just yet, though a rivalry with Ziggler seems to be looming. Bad News Barrett curses himself every time he holds the belt and does the title no favors. Ryback is an interesting choice considering that he STILL hasn’t won a title yet. However, he doesn’t really have much momentum going into the match and him winning the title wouldn’t really make for anything interesting in the long run. As for R-Truth, I can only assume that some sort of scandal is behind any scenario if he were to win. Twerk Boy Billy Gunn winning the IC title again? No thank you. Sheamus has the highest profile in this match and has scended into top heel status. Putting the belt on him only will strengthen his run. Now if Bray Wyatt were to take Rusev’s place, he wouldn’t be easy to count out, but I don’t think this woul dbe the proper venue.
Winner: Sheamus
NXT Alumni Grudge Match: Neville vs. Bo Dallas
I mean, talk about your random feuds right? I guess Bo finally decided to make himself relevant since he’s been on the main roster for a while now and hasn’t done anything of notice besides beat Barrett when he was the IC Champ (did he ever get his IC Title match?). This seems just like a placeholder to burn some time, but these two put on some solid matches during their NXT days. While they surely won’t get nearly the amount of time they did in NXT, I think this will go for a good 6-8 minutes and we should see some inoffensive action between the two. Neville wins because he is prime for bigger and better things. If Bo works as an Internet twitter troll, though, it wouldn’t be all bad for him.
Winner: Neville
Champion vs. Champion – John Cena vs. Kevin Owens
So I’m sort of excited for this match but sort of scared for the result. John Cena has a criminal track record of winning matches that he does not need to win. When I look at Kevin Owens, I see future top heel potential. He just has that rugged but serious look, and he clearly means business. His attack on John Cena a couple weeks back was the icing on the cake for me. Here’s the thing, though. He has gotten the upper hand on Cena for two straight weeks, and if we aren’t ignorant to WWE’s formula, “look strong on TV, lose on PPV”, then it leads me to believe that Cena would go over. However, Owens has a huge fan in Triple H, and I think that he sees a special something in him. To me, it boils down to how if affects Kevin in the future. He is currently slated for some RAW tapings and even the Battleground PPV in the near future, so his spot on the main roster may be all but sealed. What better way to ring in your position than with a signature win with the face of the company for the past decade? This is really a toss-up for me and for all we know, this can end in a disqualification easily. I had Sami Zayn interfering to cost him the match, but since he’s out of action for a while, that doesn’t seem likely. Now my head says Owens, but my heart (yes, how corny of me) is saying Cena. Trust me, if I had a surefire conviction that Owens was going over, I’d pick him in a heartbeat. But Cena went over Sami Zayn clean in his home country. WWE will have no problem putting over Cena here. I’ll pick John boy, but this is a vote of no confidence. A toss up if I’ve ever seen one.
Winner: John Cena
Divas Title – Nikki Bella (C) vs. Naomi vs. Paige
At this point, I don’t even know why Nikki is still holding the belt. She’s beaten everyone that there is to beat, and still hasn’t gotten anywhere. That is kind of a microcosm of what the Divas division is these days. I don’t think the action will pick up until the NXT Divas make their way to the main roster. Even then, I’d prefer for them to stay in NXT for a while, because that’s where they put on wrestling clinics. You won’t be getting that on the main roster for WWE. Not with their style. Anyways, every time I have picked against Nikki Bella, she wins. So I’d figure if I pick her to retain, someone else would win. In all honesty, all three women have cases, but I’ll go with Naomi. Just because she’s the only person in the match to not hold the title, and that’s the ONLY reason why. Couldn’t care less about this match to be honest with you.
Winner: Naomi
Seth Rollins (C) vs. Dean Ambrose – WWE World Heavyweight Championship
These two have borderline impeccable chemistry working together, so should they get enough time, they should be able to replicate some of the great performances they put on last year. Now this will just be a standard match with no stipulations, but I think they’ll manage. The issue I have with this feud is that The Authority has been too heavily involved in this feud to make it seem interesting. By this time last year, in the early stages of Rollins’ conversion, he didn’t have J and J and was mostly just tied to Kane. But the feud was personal. That personal aspect is lacking this go around, but I’m sure we can bypass the shortcomings in the booking should they deliver like we know they can. As for the winner, it shouldn’t really be in question. Now is definitely not the time to put the title on Ambrose (or any time for that matter), and a WWE title change at an impromptu PPV is the last thing Rollins need. I don’t think Rollins loses the title, or should even be considered to lose the title until Lesnar comes back into the fray. The Architect goes over The Lunatic Fringe this Sunday. However, one thing I am pulling for is Roman Reigns costing Ambrose the title. They’ve been working together for sometime now and Reigns has been seen in Ambrose’s shadow. A swerve and turning him heel can do wonders for him if you ask me. Just saying.
Winner: Seth Rollins
I think WWE has managed to put a card better in limited time than they did for Paybcak. I think between the chamber matches, Owens/Cena and Rollins/Ambrose, this is a must-see show if you have the time for it. I think it will entertain vastly. Can’t wait till next Sunday, where you know I will have your match ratings for you guys. Until next time.
